Wednesday, June 16, 2010

A healthy dog

Up till today, I've been taking Iris along on a leash when we walk. When she was sick, she kept wanting to go back to the house without us, and I wanted her to stay with us. Besides, I didn't want her to stray and get lost. Today Iris and I walked alone while Cliff slept, since he wants to spend his "walk-time" setting a corner post for a fence where the trailer house used to be. I decided to take the dog without a leash. I've never seen such speed in a dog. If I called her, she'd come running toward me... and pass me by! I wanted to get a video, but she was so fast it was well nigh impossible. I managed to get seven seconds of her running recorded, and then she was out of sight. And truthfully, this wasn't her top speed, not even close. I hope to get a video in tomorrow morning at the beginning of our walk, when she's at top speed.

I read that whippets can run up to thirty-five miles per hour. Occasionally she'd take time out to roll in the wet grass, and then she was off again. Whenever we used to see Sadie rolling, we knew she had found something nasty and rotten to roll in, but Iris simply rolls for the pure joy of living, the same reason she runs so freely. I can't wait for Cliff to see the speed of this dog. Now for the negative doggie-news: The little neighbor girl was in our yard with her chihuahua, and it started yapping at me and Iris. I knew there could be trouble and tried to grab Iris by the collar, but it was too late; she was off like a rocket, with me yelling "Nooooo" to no avail. As luck with have it, the chihuahua was able to run under the body of an old car, and Iris was too big to follow; the little girl grabbed her dog, who was just fine. Thank God for that! I warned her that Iris is capable of hurting her dog, since she did catch Angel and rough her up, with several people watching and trying to intervene. One of my regular readers, Wil, suggested Iris goes after small dogs because she is a sighthound, bred to go after rabbits and other small game. I tend to agree with him. Even though she is only half whippet, she certainly has all the traits of a purebred. So, Iris is out to kill cats and small dogs. I have a brother-in-law in St. Louis who would consider that a wonderful trait, but I really would prefer she not hurt other people's pets.

Speedy little wench, isn't she? I had an experience this evening I think that Iris would have loved being in on. Leaving the home of friends in rural Louisiana, we drove out their lane at dusk through a private hunting reserve. My truck jumped not one, not two, nor three but four rabbits along the way. Sure looks like the coyotes are failing to keep them in check this year. No deer though, and that probably isn't a good sign.